Preliminary evaluation of the second hot dry rock geothermal energy reservoir: results of phase 1, run segment 4

Technical Report · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5321550· OSTI ID:5321550

Murphy, H D; Aamodt, R L; Albright, J N

Results of the preliminary assessment of the second hot dry rock reservoir at the Fenton Hill field site are presented. This second reservoir was created by fracturing a deeper interval of granite rock located at a depth of 2.93 km (9620 ft) in the same wellbore pair used in the creation of the first reservoir; no additional redrilling was required. The new fracture system has a vertical extent of at least 320 m (1050 ft), suggesting that the combined heat-transfer area of the old and new fracture systems is 11 times that of the old system. The virgin rock temperature at the bottom of the deeper interval was 197/sup 0/C (386/sup 0/F). Water at a flow rate of 6 l/s (100 gpm) was circulated through the reservoir for a period of 23 days. Downhole measurements of the water temperature at the reservoir outlet, as well as temperatures inferred from geothermometry, showed that the thermal drawdown of the reservoir was negligible and preliminary estimates indicate that the minimum effective heat-transfer area of the new reservoir is 45,000 m/sup 2/ (480,000 ft/sup 2/), which is six times larger than the first reservoir. The following are presented: operational plan, reservoir geometry and flow paths, flow impedance, geochemistry, heat extraction, dye tracer flow distribution studies, and seismicity. (MHR)

• Research Organization: Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5321550
• Report Number(s): LA-8354-MS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150906* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Reservoir Stimulation & Extraction Technology
CHEMISTRY
COMMINUTION
DRAWDOWN
DRILLING
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENGINEERING
FLOW RATE
FLUID INJECTION
FRACTURING
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMOMETRY
GRANITES
Geothermal Legacy
HEAT EXTRACTION
HEAT TRANSFER
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
IMPEDANCE
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
PLUTONIC ROCKS
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE
ROCKS
SEISMICITY
SOUTHWEST REGION
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
USA
WELL DRILLING
WELL PRESSURE
WELL TEMPERATURE